


The Soup was Worth the Pain

by laurahonest



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2013-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 16:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurahonest/pseuds/laurahonest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gajeel is hurt and Levy can't just leave him lying in the street.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Soup was Worth the Pain

**Author's Note:**

> Post episode 35. What if Levy had chased Gajeel after the fight with Jet, Droy and Laxus?  
> Fluffy little thing. One shot only.

Gajeel knew what was coming the minute those two cornered him in the park. What were their names again? Det and Jory, no, Jet and Droy maybe? Yeah that sounded right or at least close. Their little teammate was cowering behind a tree trying to talk them out of attacking him. That was sweet of her, but he didn’t really mind. He knew they needed to do some damage to him to make themselves feel better, besides they weren’t strong enough to really hurt him. “Maybe he’s right….I mean, now that he’s in the guild he isn’t gonna do it again.” He was a little surprised that she was defending him, even if she did look scared to death while saying it. The boys weren’t having it though and they attacked. He let them hit him with everything they had. He didn’t dodge or hit back and he bit back the anger that he felt. They were about to let it go and leave him alone when Laxus showed up. This wasn’t going to be as easy to take, Laxus didn’t seem quite sane. The lightning bolts he got hit with hurt like hell but he didn’t fight back against the lightning user either. Gajeel let Laxus rain the blows down on him. If Jet and Droy had kept their traps shut it would have been over soon but they finally realized that he wasn’t fighting back and decided to come to his defense. If the lightning hadn’t hurt so much Gajeel would have laughed at the irony of it. 

Laxus turned away from Gajeel and fired off a lightning bolt at the trio. _Shit!_ Gajeel thought as he leapt up, _that is going to hit the shrimp!_ He landed in front of her and used his iron arm to redirect the lightning away from the cowering girl. “You through with me now?” he asked coldly, “Cause I got other things to do.” He walked away hoping that the lightning bastard was done or at least that he would follow before attacking again and leave the girl alone.

“Gajeel...I” he heard her call out.

“Leave me alone,” he said gruffly hoping she would stay there and not get in the way of that psycho again. Laxus made and irritated noise and left. Jet and Droy looked at each other guiltily. They hadn’t meant for it to go so far. They just wanted a little revenge for being hospitalized. 

Levy hesitated a minute and then sprinted after him. That was unexpected; he had figured she was too scared of him to follow. He ducked around a corner hoping she wouldn’t notice and would lose his trail but the sudden turn made him keel over. That damn lightning idiot hadn’t pulled his punches one little bit. 

Levy found him lying on the ground. She was scared of him, but he looked so sad and broken laying on the ground there that she just had to help him. She checked him carefully; he was burned badly but still conscious. Levy gently helped him stand. He was so weak he had to lean on her to stay standing. Her house was closer than the guild hall and she had no idea where he lived so she slowly helped him to her house. She laid him down on her couch and propped his feet up. When he was settled she went and got him some water and he sipped it slowly while she searched for some burn cream and bandages. He groaned occasionally when she put the cream on him but mostly he was quiet. She checked him carefully for any more injuries and when she didn’t find anymore she put the bandages and medicines away. She busied herself cleaning up quietly and making some soup while he slept. She knew he didn’t have a cold and soup wouldn’t help much but it always made her feel better and maybe it would help him too. 

The room was clean, the soup was ready, the dragon slayer was patched up to the best of her ability and she couldn’t think of anything else to do. It was a little unnerving having him here but she didn’t think she needed to worry about him anymore. She decided to read quietly while her guest slept. Levy settled into her favorite chair with a book and quickly lost herself in its world. 

Several hours later Gajeel finally woke up. He didn’t remember how he got here, he had no idea where ‘here’ even was and it hurt to move or even breathe. He carefully looked around and saw the shrimp sitting in a chair fast asleep with a book on her chest. _Oh,_ he thought, _she must have found me and brought me here after that bastard shocked the hell out of me._ He didn’t see any need to impose on her any more than he already had. He carefully sat up and after a few minutes sitting he tried to stand. His leg gave way and he collapsed to the floor. The crash and muffled cursing woke Levy and she jumped up to help him. His pride really wanted to refuse her small hands but he couldn’t get up on his own. He took the offered hand and leaned on her shoulder. She helped him to the small bathroom and left him alone in there. When he had relieved himself he stood staring at the reflection in the mirror. He had bandages all over. She must have been the one to put them on for him. Despite himself he felt grateful for her help. She helped him slowly walk to the small table and sit down then she left the room and came back with a bowl of steaming soup and more water. She set them down in front of him. “Is this ok?” she asked nervously, “I could go get you some metal if that would be better. I didn’t know which would help you heal faster.”

She was worried about him, not scared of him like he expected. He was so caught off guard he almost didn’t answer. “This is fine, metal only replenishes my magic not my physical health,” he finally managed to say. She smiled at him and he slowly raised the spoon to his lips. The soup was delicious. He looked up at her again to tell her so but the words got stuck in his throat when he saw the scared look back on her face. “I should go home,” he said instead, “I have imposed on you enough.” Her face fell and it looked like she was trying not to cry. “I…thank you for helping me,” he stammered. “I know it couldn’t have been easy given what a jerk I am. I’ll just go and you can forget about me.” He tried to stand and couldn’t make his leg work.

“That’s not it,” she said with a little squeak, “I’ve just never cooked for anyone besides myself so I was afraid you wouldn’t like it.” She blushed and looked down at the floor when she finished speaking.

He was in awe. Here this tiny little thing had helped him, _him,_ the jerk that had beat the crap out of her and put her in the hospital, the guy that she probably had nightmares about. She could barely support his weight when she helped him walk. And this little shrimp was not scarred of having him in her house, or scared that he might hurt her; she was scared that he didn’t like her food. He turned back to the table, picked up the spoon and started shoveling the food in as fast as he could. He sucked with words but he was going to show her just how good he thought her cooking was. The soup was definitely worth the pain.


End file.
